Australia Day Honours Congratulations -

By Ian Robertson, Alumni Manager

The School is justifiably proud of these Korovians who truly exemplify our value of service. These awards bring the total to 29 Korovians who have received Australian Honours.

Dr Helen Tope AO (Class of 1980)

President of the Korovian Club, who was awarded an AO in the general division. Her citation reads:

For distinguished service to environmental protection, particularly of the ozone layer, through leadership, research and policy development. Helen has had a long and distinguished career in environmental science. Since 1995, under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme, Helen has been co-chair of one of the expert technical committees of the Montreal Protocol, the international treaty for protection of Earth’s ozone layer. She has had the privilege of working with a dedicated international group of experts to reverse the global catastrophe of ozone layer depletion and to mitigate climate change.

Korowa boarders seen in picture are Helen Warner (Murphy, Class of 1941) sitting next to Margot Buckingham (Appleford, Class of 1940) holding the dog.

However, the connection with Sycamore Lodge and Korowa does not end there as the current owner, Michael Reed who purchased the house in 2006 has cousins who are Korovians, Chloe Papas (Class of 2017), Lucinda (Class of 2020) and Daphne who is currently in Year 12. Interestingly, Chloe recently completed a Bachelor of Communication Design at Monash University and is currently working as a designer at Melbourne's Tric Studio.

Thank you to Michael Reed for providing the inspiration for this article. A teacher of English, Music, Drama and Art, Michael is also a keen historian. His British Royal Family-oriented research articles have been published in periodicals and major newspapers, particularly those in the UK where he has often been a guest presenter on BBC Radio.

Dr Elizabeth Lording AM (McDonald, Class of 1966) received an AM with her citation reading:

For significant service to medicine, particularly to Multiple Sclerosis rehabilitation and research.

A rehabilitation physician, Elizabeth’s career was mainly in the field of multiple sclerosis and chronic neurological diseases. She was Medical Director of MS Australia, involved in research with MS Research Australia and also worked for a number of years in the Neuroimmunology Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital, before retiring in 2019. Elizabeth is delighted that her granddaughter is currently a student in the Junior School.

Tammy Shepherd OAM (Paterson, Class of 1977) received a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division. Her citation reads: For service to the community through charitable organisations.

Tammy has had extensive involvement in volunteering both in Australia and overseas as a physiotherapist. She will soon leave for a 2-month stint in Senegal as a volunteer physiotherapist with Mercy Ships.